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I have learned a lot the last couple of years. About nature, history, biology, science, and also about my business, IT, apps and projects. Still it is time to move on, and to broaden my horizon. I’ll be looking for something new, hopefully a bit closer home, in Spain, but I’m flexible and I have no problem working across the border.

First I’ll take it easy for a while, and I’ll see how everything goes with our new treasure, and than again giving it 100%.

What can you do when you find a little critter near your home and suddenly you get curious about what you found? Sometimes it can be very nice to investigate a little more and find out a little more about the bug you found. Lots of little animals have very positive properties and most of them would never hurt a human. Some of them are beautiful, and some have a important role then you might realize.

At Naturalis I contributed to the creation of the Bugfinder app (Dierenzoeker, for now only in Dutch). This fun free app is made for Android and iPhone. You can use the app to find out what bug you found and read all about it. The app is easy to use, made specifically for children from 7 to 11 years, but also very nice for all adults.

If you always wanted to find out what the strange yellow ladybug you sometimes find in the garden really is? After a little searching you will find out all about the little bug, including the fun fact that the little animal ‘plants’ his own crops.

With 300 little bugs and critters for sure you will be able to name a lot of the animals you find around your home.

Who would have thought it possible that Ana would be the main news in the local papers thanks to Angelina Jolie. Ana does research and screening for generic markers related to breast cancer. A topic that recently became world news thanks to Angelina. The current awareness resulted in interviews, newspaper articles and publications.

The situation in Spain is very difficult at the moment. There is a very high unemployment rate and if your lucky, and have a job, there is a lot of uncertainty. After years of employment people suddenly get contracts that last only a month. If you are sick at the end of the month you are automatically without a job.

After quite some debate we have made a decision to do whats best and try to create more stability for our family. We wanted the security of two incomes in these strange times of crisis. After months of searching for a job here in Gran Canaria I took a gamble in the Netherlands. This turned out to be a lucky shot and one week after sending my CV and a phone call I got myself a nice contract for half a year. A contract worth more that three times a similar job here in Spain.

Of course it was a very difficult decision. My family will remain (for now) in Las Palmas and we will have to see how we fill in our future together. I’m going back home to Leiden and start there the 1st of April. The positive feeling of returning to my roots, my family and my friends is however overshadowed by the nearing goodbye of Alex and Ana. Even though I know the goodbye is only for a while and there are lots of ways to keep in touch, it is still painful to think I will not be there for Alex in the middle of the night when he wants his milk.

It is a big change for us, but we are confident it is the best thing we can do for our future. I’m heading back to Leiden (first to Noordwijkerhout) and then we will see where the future leads us. See you very soon!

The Spanish red cross asked me to create a virtual tour through their offices. They would use this tour to add something visual when explaining the activities of the red cross and to add an impression of how the offices are set up and to make clear what is the scale of the activities and the size of the offices and storage that the red cross has available.

Enjoying a nice cup of coffee they explained in detail how the center was run and that this specific office is one of the four most important distribution centers worldwide.